Artillery problems in Bulge '44

[dto]

As I posted on the WDS forum, the problem with fudging Parameter values for play balance is that it's a clumsy tool. For example, if you boost German artillery values in Bulge '44 so the Germans can achieve a breakthrough in the early turns, that bonus lasts through the entire 162-turn campaign.

Unless I looked at the counterbattery values in the Parameter file, I have no reason to believe that German artillery has an advantage when the real history was otherwise. Maybe we should include more information in the scenario description, such as the campaign boosting German artillery values.

Michael

But you just asked to have the values in the PDT adjusted in a direction you think is “right” and not what the scenario designer did after a lengthy process of play testing.  So is it only clumsy when we disagree with the values? Or is the PDT in fact a tool for the designers to make subtle adjustments?

You've got this backwards. The default values are 100 percent, which for reasons unknown, the designer modified to strongly favor the Germans in an ahistorical manner.

Maybe the designer did this for play balance. Maybe for some other reason, or perhaps the designer simply made a mistake. As a player, it's not my job to guess.

I'm more inclined to believe that Panzer Campaigns has seen a lot of changes over the years. So a play balance mechanism, such as modifying default artillery values, may have been necessary at one time but not now. At the least, it's worth reexamining the question.

Michael